Real Money

TOKYO, Nov. 10, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In a prelude to a visit by Vladimir Putin to Japan in December, Japanese government officials met Russian counterparts in Moscow this week to discuss the two countries economic ties.

The Nikkei business daily reported that the summit between the two leaders next month will continue the economic talks and also attempt to resolve long standing territorial disputes between the nations.

The government representatives are keen to put in place a preliminary plan focused on the Russian city of Voronezh, where pollution levels have reached dangerous levels. Japanese engineers will train Russian workers in a series of government-funded projects in the region. They hope to settle plans by the middle of this month.

A few weeks later, Japanese president Shinzo Abe and Russian premier Vladimir Putin will hold a formal meeting on the fringes of the Asia-Pacific summit in Peru, where they will delve deeper into their new economic ties and hopefully resolve geopolitical issues.

The newspaper article said that the two countries would work together closely on future oil and gas development projects and also cooperate on the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor which was rocked by a tsunami in 2011.

"This is going to be one of the most important meetings between world leaders this year," said Elliot Parker, Head of mergers and acquisitions at Sino Link Japan. "Of course, settling the festering disputes over the islands to the south of Russia is important but arguably the economic agreements that could result from the summit might be even more crucial. The financial world has been waiting for some time for Japanese entry into the Russian market proper."